Saturday, April 28, 2007

So, got a call from Mumbai yesterday morning. One of those regular "sir, myself Meetha from XXX bank. Would you like to take a lifetime free credit card..." calls I thought - I love such calls. When in the mood, I question and I probe until finally the poor girl breaks down as she can't find any of the answers anywhere on her script ( I know its slightly cruel, especially as I have no intention of getting a credit card, but she was the one who asked for it by bugging me in the morning, dammit! ) Anyway, turns out it isn't that harmless a call. It was my landlord from Mumbai. Apparently he's had quite enough of Mumbai, has decided to quit his job, come back to Bangalore and start a company of his own. Great, best of luck, pud-id-there-pardner - I was about to say , but then it hit me, "why's he telling me this?" , "what could be his hidden motive (agenda as politicians put it)?" - he's been an excellent landlord, never interefering, always amenable, but we've never been on such terms that we discuss our professional lives. And then he said it. He wants to move back to his house, and that means we'll have to vacate the house by the end of May. :(

So its back to the drawing board for us. Being two bachelors hunting for a house to rent is the worst creature you can ever be, trust me. The kind of yellow, green, purple houses PS and I saw in the last house hunt makes me shudder to the core of my soul (can I say "core of my ore", thanks, I will- makes sense also as 'ore' is the soul of metal...I LIKE 'core of my ore', dammit, and I'll use it if I feel like it...this is MY blog, you're just tenants, oops readers) about going through the whole thing again. Also, being bachelors means we're degenerate, alcoholic, womanisers, dirty, noisy, boisterous in the landlords' eyes (we ARE all that, but don't label us man!). So we have to "prove" our nice-ness (whats the english word for "sharafat" ?) to our potential landlords, the owners of pathetic hovels with unimaginable colour schemes and disgusting layouts. And THATS just so demeaning. Why should I have to 'prove' anything? If stay in your disgusting house- i'm doing you a favour dammit! But then, such are the ways of the world (and the imbalance in the supply-demand equation here) that we have no alternative.

Sniff..back to getting house leads.

Does anyone know of a nice, cheap 2 bedroom apartment in the Silkboard area in Bangalore?...bawl...

Thursday, April 26, 2007

Strange things have been known to happen. I have always, and I mean, ALWAYS been cynical of 'online friendships'. My personal opinion is that people always project a persona over the anonymous medium of the internet/chat rooms/orkut-ish social networking (read: hunting for pretty pictures) websites/ ryze etc- this persona could be the over-nice, oh-so-perfect person...or the anti-establishment uber-dark-anti-hero kind of image that people consider 'cool'. I have nothing against this, the medium defines the image (before colour photography, i'm sure people stood to the light in a photographer's studio differently from what they did after colour photography.) The eternal interest in portraying yourself better is perfectly understandable and probably even commendable (man is a social animal, so doing things that make you improve your social chances are good. But does that mean conformism is good?? ..hehe..another topic for research) .The internet is also another medium which defines how a person wants to project herself. Why I am cynical is that it is too easy a medium to assume a divergent personality - and make people believe it! and that, I think, is cheating.Strong term you say, but hear me out. When you try to project an 'image' in real life, you work hard towards it, live the life, get into the skin, and yet you'll only pull it off only if you have supressed elements from the personality that you want to be. Also, keep projecting for long and you will start becoming a bit like you want to be.In the online world on the other hand, you can be four personalities at the same time, depending on which chat window is open. Its like shooting fish in a barrel, too easy. Thats why I say that all four of the chat-window-chatters are being cheated, and hence I hardly ever trust anyone who I've met only virtually.

But, maybe its time to change my thinking, SG, we've only 'met' online, called me this evening. Responding to my incessant cribbing about the Delhi-Bangalore disgruntled-ness (forgive the grammer) , I was told of an opportunity in Delhi. Its good to see people respond the way you expect your 'normal' friends to respond, even if they're just 'virtual' friends.Maybe there is something to this being friends with people online thing :)

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Didja miss me? :)Of course you did! Hundreds and hundreds of emails have dropped into my inbox questioning me, cajoling me, nay, begging me to write on this blog again. Hundreds of people have told me that their miserable pithy little lives have ceased to have any meaning since I've stopped posting on this blog (also they haven't been able to pass time at 'work' without having the option of delving into my intellectual discourses [ramblings, but hey SOMEONE's got to cater to the non-intellectuals too, duh..{no, no, you have to press enter to reach my blog..no, no that button on the right- What are you? an idiot?? [thats my regular reader base, sniff, the poor challenged darlings..sniff] )

Anyway, some explanations are in order at this point in time (my international audience deserve to know why I haven't been as regular as before)

Well I was in New Delhi, my hometown, for a small vacation. And the last thing I want to do there is to switch on my laptop and write/check emails/ watch porn (I'd rather plonk down on my bed, stuff my face with home food and ask Mom to change channels on the TV) .

Delhi, sigh, is awesome. You always return from there with a feeling that another week or so there would've been even better. I've already mentioned the engagement party on the first saturday I was there. I don't want to delve into it much, lets just say, I don't remember most of what happened. The highlight of the week, undoubtedly, was the time I got to spend with my 1.5 yr old niece J and my ** yrs (that stuff about ladies' ages and gentlemen's salaries) old sister S. S came over for 4 days and it was totally adorable talking to her about everything under the sun and playing with J. I meet J after long intervals, 3-4 months, so I have to re-introduce myself everytime I meet her and win her trust so she lets me play with her. J is a charmer :) Its amazing how a little bundle like her lights up the entire household when she's there. Running around all day with someone or the other in tow. Saying things in that oh-so-cute way (Note to self: Stop sounding like a gushing aunt) , dancing to music on TV and when she smiles and laughs..awesome.I met up with a lot of old friends from DCE. Primarily because of SP's wedding. The turnout was surprisingly large and I met a number of juniors after almost 3 years. Its really cool to see how everyone has changed, the things they're involved in now and the paths they have chosen for themselves. Got some 4th year guys too, and had a ball ribbing (ragging?) them. Great to see that the sense of humour and the ability to laugh at oneself is still being cultivated in the great DCE (and the mental agility to make the best of any situation, one of the juniors was actually taking a diet coke can home- redefining "one for the road" [snigger]) . Met I from IIFT also. Long time since I last spoke to her (Note to self: Try staying in touch with people from different phases of your life)

What else, what else - Couldn't meet a few people that I wanted to, and a couple are pissed because of that. Loved driving on the beautiful roads in Delhi. Re-met some of the first saturday night revellers and had a laugh about it. Learnt a few new things about different careers than just engineering and mbas...hmm all-in-all a great time :)

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Hmm, So regular readers of this blog (that would be me, my roomie, and the stray dog I sometimes feed my two- day old pizza to) would be aware that I am currently NOT in Bangalore. I reached Delhi (Have you seen Delhi from the air nowadays? At night?... i'm not kidding, my heart actually skipped a beat as I stared down at the beautifully laid out and brilliantly lit capital of the country. All the years we spent dodging traffic jams and literally melting in the sweltering May-June heat were worth it. Delhi's infrastructure is really looking up and the broad, well lit roads; the awesome Metro, and the all around efforts to improve the city are indeed commendable) on Thursday evening last. A brief shower in Bangalore kept my plane on the tarmac for an hour, but eventually we took off and reached the city of my heart at around 1 at night. Since then its been a whirlwind of busy evenings and idyllic summer-vacation-ish afternoons. I can be as busy as I want when i'm in Delhi.There are so many people to meet, catch up with, old places to visit (DCE). But sometimes it seems that my parents get slightly psyched that I come, dump my stuff and am off to meet friends. Also my sis came over with my adorable one and a half year old niece. So I've been spending some time at home. (ok,ok so I was out till 1 am on Friday, all night on Saturday and till 10 yesterday, SO? I was home on Sunday, wasn't I...pfft..YOU shut up)Am seriously too tired to recount what all I did on these night outs, lets just say that I managed to make myself look like a fool with people I was meeting for the first time without anyone helping :)

Chalo, details shall come in later, maybe when the vacation is over.

PS: SP and AD got engaged on Saturday, and the party was quite interesting with many different people - finally a party without all engineers and mbas...a graphic designer, a couple of people in NGOs, a History M.Phil, a radio correspondent ...hmm interesting people...and..em..great party except I managed to look like a fool ..but anyway, thats what parties are for, right? ..RIGHT?)

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Katrina (I can call you that?..thanks, afterall we're too close for getting this formality in the way), I have long been an ardent admirer of your art. But never before has the sheer charm and class that you embody struck a chord with me as it did day before yesterday when I watched the largely innane 'Namaste London', and was instantly compelled to write this letter to you.

Katrina, you have been a ray of light in the lives of hundreds of your viewers, but I think OUR connection is a lot deeper than the others. We share the same thoughts and feelings. I could see it in your eyes (your beautiful, lustrous, twinkling eyes. Eyes that open wide and pour out the sheer beauty of anger and shock when you want them too; the very same eyes that crinkle up when you flash the alluring and child-like smile) that you think the same way. Whenever you looked down from that screen at me, I could feel your intense and forlorn desire of leaving the rest of the world for being with me (the fact that each of your eyes was 4 feet in height helped me in delving deep into your feelings for me)

I personally believe that you know that I have a thing for women with genuine accents (of course you'd know that, only the other day I was telling your photograph all about my fascination with foreign accents), thats probably why you decided to live for sometime in UK, just to acquire that inimitable british accent that I find so alluring (not the common 'american accent' for me, thank you). But sweetheart, you didn't need to sacrifice so much for me, I would love and respect you even if you didn't have that accent (the fact that you took so many pains for me is tremendously endearing though!). I think you have been sent to this dreary earth to show women everywhere what feminity in this new era is all about. Beauty with confidence, the sheer joi-de-vivre of being, living life on your own terms (yes honey, it'd be your choice if you want to work after we get married, plus the fact that you make 10 times the money I make) {all for us cupcake,all for us - the faster we (you) earn, the faster we can start our idyllic life in a small (or large) chalet in south of France}.

Of course I haven't spoken about other aspects of your beauty, the way the corners of your mouth bend up a bit (ala Meg Ryan), the way you're forever ready to flash your million dollar smile. Sigh, you are the stuff dreams are made of (nice dreams! you perverts).

Honey, please let me know when we can meet. I'm dying to meet you. (Also would you stop your manager from playing the same joke again and again- "ma'am is busy, will not be able to meet you". I mean, its funny the first 1-2 or even 100 times, but after that it starts getting irritating) [ We'll really have to consider firing that nosey manager after the wedding, if I wasn't sure about your love for me {how could those longing looks you gave me from the screen be fake?!}, I would think that you're avoiding me using your manager]

Anyway, I have to leave now sweetheart, looking forward to our next date.

Monday, April 9, 2007

Hmmm...Could'nt sleep till 4 yesterday. I lay tossing and turning in bed for two and a half hours, and no romantic reasons involved either. Just like that. COnsequently have woken up a bit grumpy and dissatisfied with life. Maybe writing a post would be a cleansing activity.

I have a few pet peeves and a few things I don't like about myself (theres quite a bit I like about myself too though, {no, i'm not being immodest, just facing facts] )

One, when I read the awesomely brilliant book 'To Kill a Mocking Bird' there was one line about the main protagonist Atticus Finch that really hit me (Well the chief protagonist in the book could be Scout for you, however I think the main guy was Mr. Finch, Scout was narrating while Atticus was doing. That said, Scout was extremely important in making the book what it is and I wouldn't have it narrated by anyone else, or in any other way). The line is, some lady (i forget the name, time to re-read I guess...) was telling Scout this about her father -

"Your father is the same in the house as he is outside".

This kind of equinamity of being is something I crave for. I have a number of different personalities (no, not in a schizophrenic way) based on the situation (By situation I mean a combination of where I am, who I am with etc.) I am in. So in some situations I am the loud, jovial, one-liner cracking, crowd pulling,advice giving, problem solving, idea-spewing, action oriented, all-round-popular-good guy; and in other situations I am the surly, quiet, keeping ideas to myself,disinterested, tongue-tied, dull, pessimistic, afraid of authority, bored, non-excitable person.

I wish I could be the same in all situations. Maybe a mix of the two personalities. But its really difficult. I've been the same since school and don't know if it is possible to change.

Second, I have a mortal fear of confrontations. I am only able to confront people I know very well. People I don't know, or know less, are totally safe in exploiting me as much as they want- because I will never confront them. Consequentally, I end up eating up my anger and frustration- feelings which I should spew out on the exploiter. This is something I am currently facing. A guy I hardly know is really taking advantage of this trait for the past one and a half months and all I do is seethe within me and crib to people who cannot (or do not want to) do anything about the situation instead of venting out my frustration on the main culprit.Subsequently, the person is continuing to bug me and all I am doing is hating myself for not being able to do what I know is right. (I have stopped myself so much from writing the nature of my irritation to you - it would again have been the same thing- cribbing to people who can't do anything. I have to do something myself, no one else can help)

Three, I think too much about other people's feelings.Any action I do, I take too much time factoring in the reactions of everyone remotely related to its effects. Most of the time I think about myself last. I know it sounds like a very magnanimous trait but it is disgusting not to be able to put yourself first.

Four, Other people's opinion/acceptance is very important to me. I know its not a very 'cool' thing to say and would also come as a surprise, even to some of my closest friends. Many people think I do not care about opinions- thats just a persona I have cultivated. Its just not true, I have this urge to always be in people's good books, even to the point of subjugation of my own thoughts. Its a trait I hate in people, but sadly, am subject to myself

Damn, this blog should've been anonymous :)

A lone cheery note in this bleary post- we made a joke up on the way to Eagleton this Sunday:

"What is the south indian atheist's favourite movie?...Godz-illa!!" (Illa in Kannada means no/not)

Friday, April 6, 2007

Love the city. I was born in Delhi and and have spent all life in that beautiful city (except the last 1 1/2 years). Going to Delhi gives a sense of intoxication from the day you search for the elusive cheap flight ticket (yes, I crawl on all the discounted airfare sites, yes, I have no taste and class, yes, i'd rather not have bland, disgusting airline food if it means shelling out a couple of thousand less...SO??) to the final day before you're leaving bluddy Bangalore. The tempo rises further for a couple of days more... and then I start shirking from the fact that i'll be leaving the city in another 5 days. And the countdown begins with me getting more and more grumpy and moody as the dreaded day of departure descends (nice alliteration, na? ).

Anyway, right now i'm in that honeymoon period of the week before my vacation and I can barely keep my ass on my seat. I'm so high, and really, office work is looking so redundant and boring (wait, thats what I always feel...nah have been a few work days in the past year which were interesting). I'm bubbling with excitment and I'm looking forward to driving on the WIIIDDEE open roads (after Bangalore streets, those are heavenly), lolling around the house as my mom pampers me, meeting up with the myriad friends I have there. Apart from these, the reason why i'm going there is also there. The weddings of L and SP (er..separately, with different women..jeez man, do I have to spell everything out?). L is getting married on friday and SP next saturday. It was really nice getting a call from L inviting me to his wedding. We really haven't been in touch too much, mostly through A and Sardar, and it was really great to see that he invited me too :).

SP and AD, of course I know them both quite well, and don't really need an invitation to attend THEIR wedding :). Its great to see a long relationship culminating in the ultimate commitment (though why would anyone want to marry SP, even after knowing him, I cannot decipher :) ). This is one wedding thats happening for all the right reasons. Their wedding invite is quite brilliant and has been designed by a friend of AD who is either a)a korean b)was in LSR with her and is in Korea now c) is a korean staying in India (ok, so I wasn't listening when SP was telling me...so shoot me!), the invite has an excellent play of words and some very modernish calligraphy, very interesting invite. Am also really looking forward to taking SPs case when he's looking like a dork, posing for photographs on that small makeshift stage they have at receptions ( * Wicked grin, rubbing hands in anticipation * )

I have grand plans for the weekend also. And can't wait to get started on all the fun and frolic (does that by any chance sound..em..gay? if yes, pls ignore). My senior from college, A, his wife has left for Delhi and he is free over the weekend. AND he has deigned to join us for the FULL DURATION OF THE WEEKEND. So this evening RB and I are going to his place, picking up his new car, and getting him down to my house. And then the fun begins...(do I really need to spell out whats going to happen?....lets just say that 3-4 of us have planned to wake up on sunday afternoon with a throbbing headache, look around blinking in the afternoon sun and try to remember what day it is! :) ) Oh, and then of course we go for golf on Sunday. This should turn out to be another great weekend!

Cheerios kids, have a rollicking weekend...and if I don't blog for a couple of days, just send me some aspirin!

PS. the "though why would anyone want to marry SP, even after knowing him, I cannot decipher :)" jibe was only there because I know SP reads my blog :)...its not true..he's a great guy..(really..i'm serious..why the hell are you clutching your stomach and rolling on the floor??!!)

Monday, April 2, 2007

A really great weekend, the kind of weekend that whizzes past and before you know it, your ass is back in that 'ergonomically' designed office chair staring in zombie-like fashion at the laptop screen - with a wry smile on your face as you try to recollect all the things you did over the weekend. (Friday evening is a bit hazy {and seems like a million years ago, somehow}, as expected) [My standard line being- if you can remember what happened , then that was 250 bucks down the drain :) ]Ok, I won't have a ranting raving post about the weekend, you've already had enough of them (Cheers rent the air, thank God you finally got it Swapnil, we positively hate those posts-- WELL boo hoo..I will continue to write those posts, what I did on my weekend is a matter of great interest and importance to hordes of my readers..yes I'm talking about you two loyal readers there..no, even you don't read them? WHAT? c'mon I know you love those posts; ..no..Well you better start loving them now, I'm watching you ... )

Ok where was I,oh yeah, weekend, right?Well three things of note happened over the weekend and I list them down here:

1. Met up with a bunch of old friends from school :). Just as more and more people from college are leaving Bangalore (Have you noticed that they've started leaving since you got here- SO?? What are you insinuating?..its just coincidence..pure coincidence - no they aren't running away when they see me- NO she wasn't running away on seeing me, she was just taking a brisk jog - very health conscious she is! ) these 'new' friends are dropping in. Would be great to catch up from time to time. These are people who've seen me in my formative years (Before I became the awesome guy that I am :)...{Oh why couldn't they have strangled you when they had a chance...hmmpff... you're just jealous of my awesomeness. So there)Anyway, it was good fun to talk about those days, remember things- the jokes, the pains, the teachers, the scandals :D

2. Went to the driving ranges again on Sunday. My swing is getting better as my drives are going a lot straighter and flatter than before. I am beginning to understand what works best for me and am getting a smoother swing. However, I still need to play a lot more to get some consistency. And its still probably a million years before I can actually step foot on the actual Golf course ( hushed silence, the fool actually thinks he can ever get on the golf course!)3. Got this book called "The Great Indian Novel" by Shashi Tharoor. Its awesome, Its so good I'm looking forward to going home and curling up with it as soon as the work day gets over. I had earlier read a blog with a similar concept and writing style sometime back (basically this novel juxtaposes the Mahabharat (Don't you just hate people who call them Mahabharata and Ramayana? Guys, you KNOW hindi- use that knowledge- its MahabharaT and RamayaN) with the struggle for independence with various chartacters from the epic novel.) { Incidentally the name of the book is not derived from any implications of greatness from the author, but rather from Maha-Great Bharat- India(n)}. The blog is http://aashraya.blogspot.com/2005/11/vyasas-dissertation.html (hope the author doesn't mind me putting the link, then again s/he won't even be aware that I exist- so its ok)